As members of the Share the Gulf coalition and small business owners, we want and rely on fair and sustainably managed fisheries in the Gulf of Mexico. This means equal consideration for restaurants and consumers as well as fishermen. We recognize that recreational anglers currently face harsh rules on favorites like red snapper, grouper and others. At the same time, fishermen, seafood providers, restaurant owners and chefs with Share the Gulf are asking: How does taking fish from consumers help solve the problems facing anglers?

There is an important fact often overlooked. Recreational and commercial fishermen harvesting red snapper have seen a 70% jump in the amount they’re allowed to catch in just the past five years. Commercial fishermen, seafood businesses and consumers are reaping benefits because the management plan works (and helps promote fish population recovery). Unfortunately, angling seasons continue to shrink, because the underlying recreational management plan remains broken. Anglers are understandably angry, but assigning them more fish (“reallocation”) won’t help. Instead, it hurts more people and businesses. It’s already surprisingly difficult for Gulf chefs like us to source fresh, local fish – this would make it even harder.

Many of us enjoy recreational fishing with our families and friends, and we want our children to experience catching their own dinner. We also know that many recreational fishermen enjoy ordering fresh local fish in Gulf seafood restaurants.

Recreational fishing is important to the economy. So are the small businesses tied to the “commercial fishery” and the “supply chain” like restaurants, grocery stores, distributors, shippers and others.

Let’s talk about solutions and new management options. Let’s talk about everyone’s goals and how we can achieve them together. Let’s stand up together and ask the Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council to focus their attention on recreational management plans that will actually extend seasons over the long-term, improve data collection and reporting and enhance sustainability. We hope to work with recreational fishermen throughout the Gulf to find productive long term solutions for this shared resource.

Published: Thursday, October 17, 2013 At 16:32 PM.

PANAMA CITY — If you don’t own a boat, it shouldn’t stop you from eating fish.

That’s how local fishing boat captain Billy Archer described the goals of “Share the Gulf,” a new coalition striving to maintain access for commercial anglers in the Gulf waters.

“This should be important to everyone who enjoys seafood,” said Archer, captain of the “Seminole Wind” out of St. Andrews Marina. “If you want to go to a local seafood market or grocery store and find something that’s not farm raised and not imported, this should be important to you.”

Backed by more than 130 restaurants, chefs, anglers, seafood industry leaders and organizations across the Gulf Coast, Share the Gulf aims to raise consumer awareness on the various issues the commercial fishery faces.

The Florida Restaurant and Lodging Association (FRLA) joined the Share the Gulf coalition, formed to help ensure Gulf seafood continues to be shared fairly and sustainably for generations to come. The effort was initiated in part as a response to a current proposal being vetted before members of the Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council that could alter allocation of fresh gulf seafood and diminish the supply for restaurants and seafood markets.

Every year, millions of Americans enjoy fresh seafood caught by local small businesses and supplied to restaurants and grocery stores across the country. These small businesses make up what is called the “commercial fishery” and they provide consumers the ability to enjoy Gulf seafood like red snapper, grouper and other reef fish without having to catch it themselves on deep sea boats. The coalition knows that if the resource is managed well, there are plenty of fish like red snapper and grouper to go around. The Share the Gulfcoalition believes that all Americans – sportsmen as well as restaurants, seafood lovers and commercial fishermen – deserve to enjoy the Gulf’s bounty.

“It is imperative the Gulf’s resources are shared fairly to ensure Florida’s commercial fisheries remain healthy and sustainable,” said Carol Dover, President and CEO of the FRLA. “Here in the Sunshine State, fresh Gulf seafood is an essential part of our hospitality industry and we will continue to vigorously work with fishery leaders to safeguard our businesses and consumers.”

(Tallahassee, FL) — The Florida Restaurant and Lodging Association (FRLA) is proud to join the Share the Gulf coalition, formed to help ensure Gulf seafood continues to be shared fairly and sustainably for generations to come. The effort was initiated in part as a response to a current proposal being vetted before members of the Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council that could alter allocation of fresh gulf seafood and diminish the supply for restaurants and seafood markets.

Every year, millions of Americans enjoy fresh seafood caught by local small businesses and supplied to restaurants and grocery stores across the country. These small businesses make up what is called the “commercial fishery” and they provide consumers the ability to enjoy Gulf seafood like red snapper, grouper and other reef fish without having to catch it themselves on deep sea boats. The coalition knows that if the resource is managed well, there are plenty of fish like red snapper and grouper to go around. The Share the Gulf coalition believes that all Americans – sportsmen as well as restaurants, seafood lovers and commercial fishermen – deserve to enjoy the Gulf’s bounty.

“It is imperative the Gulf’s resources are shared fairly to ensure Florida’s commercial fisheries remain healthy and sustainable,” said Carol Dover, President and CEO of the Florida Restaurant and Lodging Association. “Here in the Sunshine State, fresh Gulf seafood is an essential part of our hospitality industry and we will continue to vigorously work with fishery leaders to safeguard our businesses and consumers.”

The body responsible for managing these fisheries, the Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council, will be meeting October 28th through November 1st in New Orleans. The Share the Gulf coalition plans to alert members of the restaurant and seafood communities, elected officials, and consumers of these plans and their dire economic consequences.

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About the Florida Restaurant and Lodging Association

FRLA’s mission is to ‘Protect, Educate and Promote’ Florida’s hospitality industry – which represents a $71.8 billion industry, 23% of Florida’s economy, $4.3 billion in sales tax revenue, and over one million employees, making it Florida’s largest employer. It is Florida’s premier non-profit, hospitality industry trade association. FRLA safeguards the needs of the hospitality industry, improves the business climate, promotes the highest levels of quality and safety for our patrons, provides legislative advocacy, and eases navigation of government regulation. The Association represents and serves more than 10,000 independent and household name members, suppliers, and theme parks. For more information, go to www.FRLA.org.

About Share the Gulf

Share the Gulf is a coalition of chefs, restaurateurs, restaurant associations, seafood businesses, fishermen, conservationists, local food advocates and regular consumers that want to keep the local Gulf seafood industry fair and strong. Our simple goal is to make sure Gulf seafood continues to be shared fairly and sustainably so that all of us can enjoy it for generations to come. Join the coalition at www.sharethegulf.org.

(New Orleans, Louisiana – October 1, 2013) More than 130 chefs, restaurant owners, fishermen, seafood industry leaders and conservationists announced the formation of Share the Gulf, a coalition to raise awareness of and support for local fishing businesses and the restaurants, grocery stores, consumers and state tourism industries that depend on fair access to fresh Gulf seafood.

“This is a coalition of people and groups from across the Gulf that care about making sure access to the Gulf’s resources are shared fairly and sustainably,” said Chef Stephen Stryjewski of New Orlean’s based Cochon and Pêche Seafood Grill and founding chef chair of the coalition.

The effort was initiated in part as a response to a proposal in front of regulators at the Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council to take fresh Gulf fish away from seafood consumers that are supplied by family-owned commercial fishing businesses that catch red snapper in the Gulf of Mexico.

“These proposals are not real solutions to the problems facing the recreational fishery,” said John Schmidt, a commercial fisherman from Madeira Beach, Florida and a coalition co-chair. “Taking fish away from consumers, who have sacrificed enough, and the businesses that serve them will hurt local businesses across the Gulf and won’t do much to help recreational fishermen. Recreational leaders need to work with fishery managers to find better ways to manage the fish.”

Red snapper is a shared fishery and is already split almost evenly between commercial and recreational fishermen. Frustrating recreational fishermen and others, offshore recreational fishermen are regrettably stuck in a failed management system that leads to the fishery exceeding its limit every season and inaccurate and insufficient data collection which has forced regulators to shorten the season year after year.

While the vast majority of recreational and commercial fishermen believe in sharing the Gulf’s resources, some suggest that the solution is simply to take fish from consumers and reserve it for offshore recreational fishing. Share the Gulf disagrees.

“We have worked to build a healthy and sustainable commercial fishery for red snapper in the Gulf of Mexico,” said Bubba Cochrane a commercial fisherman from Galveston, Texas and President of the Gulf of Mexico Reef Fish Shareholders’ Alliance. “The plans in front of the Council will hurt fishing businesses and consumers and set a dangerous precedent.”

In 2007, the Gulf’s commercial red snapper fishery implemented a new management program that has helped the population recover from a long-standing depleted status and kept commercial fishermen within their allocation of fish. The change has been working, and contributed to last month’s removal of red snapper from Monterey Bay Aquarium’s Seafood Watch “Red List”, a nationally recognized sustainable seafood program that rates the sustainability of fisheries around the world.

If red snapper, grouper or other reef fish are taken away from commercial fishing businesses, seafood suppliers, restaurants and retailers that rely on them, that could have serious consequences for the Gulf’s seafood industry at large.

“Members of Congress, our Gulf state governors, the Gulf Council and the federal and state fishery agencies must hear from the chefs and restaurateurs about the need for fair allocations on behalf of the American consumer and the businesses our industry partners with for supply,” said Stan Harris, President/CEO of the Louisiana Restaurant Association. “The coalition will press decision-makers to keep sustainably caught Gulf seafood on the table for the millions of Americans who don’t fish or own their own boat.”

Efforts to reserve fish and limit consumer choice have happened before, with red drum and speckled trout in particular. Some worry that this could lead to the elimination of commercial fishing for red snapper and then other Gulf fish, like grouper.

The coalition knows that if the resource is managed well, there are plenty of fish like red snapper and grouper to go around. Rather than taking fish away from chefs, restaurants, consumers and small fishing businesses that are managing the resources sustainably, we should consider alternative management options that could provide relief to recreational fishermen from their failed management plan.

“The members of this coalition want to foster a reasonable debate that leads to fishery management that is fair to everyone and above all sustains the resource for all of its benefits to society and the environment,” said Pam Baker, Gulf of Mexico Director for Environmental Defense Fund. “We want to work with fishery leaders to explore options that provide the longer fishing seasons and long-term conservation anglers seek.”

The body responsible for managing these fisheries, the Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council is meeting the last week of October in New Orleans to discuss the possibility of taking away fish from the Gulf’s seafood industry. Share the Gulf plans to alert members of the restaurant and seafood communities, elected officials and consumers to these plans and their consequences.

The members of the Share the Gulf coalition are committed to a productive, fair and reasonable dialogue with regulators, elected leaders and others about how we can best share the Gulf’s resources fairly and sustainably now and for generations to come.

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Share the Gulf is a coalition of chefs, restaurateurs, restaurant associations, seafood businesses, fishermen, conservationists, local food advocates and regular consumers that want to keep the local Gulf seafood industry fair and strong. Our simple goal is to make sure Gulf seafood continues to be shared fairly and sustainably so that all of us can enjoy it for generations to come. Join the coalition at www.sharethegulf.org.

After the Deepwater Horizon disaster, red snapper fishermen pioneered Gulf Wild, an innovative traceability program tracking fish back to the boat and the area they were caught. Photo: Ed Lallo/Newsroom Ink

From Gulf Seafood News

The red snapper in the Gulf of Mexico has gotten a little less “Red”. The Monterey Bay Aquarium Seafood Watch program has removed the Gulf of Mexico red snapper commercial fishery from their ‘Avoid’ or “Red” list.

“Hearing this today is the most positive fishery success story I have witnessed in the Gulf in years,” said Jim Goosen, chairman of Sysco Louisiana Seafoods in Houston.

13,000 Retail Outlets Follow Seafood Watch

The Seafood Watch program rates seafood on a sustainable basis: Super Green – Healthy for People and Oceans, Green – Best Choices, Yellow – Good Alternatives and Red – Avoid.

The Monterrey Bay Aquarium currently has more than 150 organizational and corporate members worldwide, and is supported by some to the top chefs and restaurants. It estimates that more than 13,000 retail outlets closely follow their buy/don’t buy recommendations.

Welcome to ShareTheGulf.org, where you can help make sure Gulf seafood is shared fairly and sustainably so that all of us can continue to enjoy this important (and delicious) part of our shared heritage. We are getting ready to launch our campaign very soon and will keep you up-to-date with the latest announcements and news on this page. Please sign-up through the homepage to stay connected with us and come back often!